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IDHAE INFORMATION
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Behane Mogese, a member of the Ethiopian Bar Association, is acting as a defence
lawyer for senior opposition leaders from the Coalition for Unity and
Democracy Party (CUD) (and among those arrested and charged are five lawyers)
who are charged with "treason and genocide". was arrested at his
home on 19 February 2006 by security forces (See : http://www.idhae.org/idhae-uk-page4.1.ethio1.htm
) . He appeared in court on 6 March 2006, when he
was remanded in custody for 14 days without charge "per the government's
request". On 21 March 2006 he was again produced before the Court and
remanded in custody for a further ten days as the investigating officers
claimed that they had not completed their investigations. "It
is essential that every person arrested be told the reason for arrest when it
occurs. The person must then be informed promptly of any charges," said
Mr Andreu-Guzman. The arrest and ongoing detention of lawyer Behane, for over
a month without charge, with no specific reason given and merely at the
request of the Government and police, constitutes a violation of Ethiopia's
international obligations to respect and ensure the right to liberty as
contained in the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights
(Article 9) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Article 6).
The
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) calls on the Ethiopian authorities
to release lawyer Behane immediately and to ensure that all lawyers are able
to perform their professional functions without any intimidation, hindrance,
harassment or improper interference as stipulated by the UN Basic Principles
on the Role of Lawyers (principle 16). Background
In November 2005, 129 members of the CUD party were arrested and
charged with high treason, "outrages against the Constitution",
inciting and organizing armed uprising and endangering the integrity of the
state. The majority of the detained persons were also charged with genocide. The
trial was adjourned to 22 March 2006. Among those arrested and charged are
five lawyers: Yacob Hailemariam, former lead prosecutor at the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, former UN special envoy in 2003
on the Nigeria-Cameroon border dispute and Member of Parliament for the CUD; Birtukan
Mideksa, former judge and vice-president of the CUD; Anteneh Muluget,
former judge and CUD candidate elected to Addis Ababa City Council; Daniel
Bekelle. a lawyer who works as Action Aid Ethiopia police director and
Coordinator of Global Call to Action on Poverty (GCAP) in Ethiopia; and Netsanet
Demissie, former judge and chair of the Organization for Social Justice
in Ethiopia and Coordinator of Global Call for Action on Poverty (GCAP) in
Ethiopia. RECOMMENDED ACTION : Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible, in English or your own language :
APPEALS TO : Prime
Minister His Excellency Meles Zenawi, Office
of the Prime Minister, PO Box 1031, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Fax
: + 251 11 552020/ + 251 11 552030 , Salutation
: Your Excellency Minister
of Justice : Mr Assefa Kesito, Ministry
of Justice, PO Box 1370, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Fax : + 251 11 517775/ + 251 11
520874 Email
:ministry-justice@telecom.net.et Salutation : Dear Minister Federal
Commissioner of Police : Mr Workneh Gebeyehu, Salutation
: Dear Commissioner COPIES
TO : Minister
of Foreign Affairs : Mr Seyoum Mesfin, Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 393, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Fax : + 251 11 514300 Email :mfa.addis@telecom.net.et Ambassade de la République
fédérale démocratique d’Ethiopie Avenue de Tervuren 231, Fax : 02.771.49.14 Email :
etebru@brutele.be You can also of the Law Society
of England and Wales. PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
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